Man of Steel (Zack Snyder)

[TGM]

MAN OF STEEL

Director: Zack Snyder

imdb

[Barty]

Man, the emotional angle and performances are spot on. The flashbacks to his childhood were spectacular, as was Kevin Costner. [

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Jonathan Kent's death is the best thing Snyder has directed

]


Loved Cavill and his much more introspective Superman, but he has the charisma too.

Adams was great as Lois, but her character needs much more fleshing and things to do in the next film other than tagging along with the action.

The action, while technically great, is honestly boring. Way too much, too over the top, too much going on and impossible to focus on with any sense of awe. And there's a lot of action, and a lot of it resolves around Zod doing things for his master plan and blowing shit up. Wish Zod and Superman had much more of a clash of wits.

So in conclusion: Drop the reliance on action, give us some more meat and stronger use of side characters, and Man of Steel 2 will pull A Dark Knight.

Also, Crowe was badass in this. Redeems his performance from Les Mis.

[TGM]

This felt like a mixed bag of a movie. Snyder was clearly brought on board to direct a Chris Nolan movie, and it's not until the end when the action kicks in that they finally let him bring what he does best to the table, and the movie finally begins to excel. But the otherwise super serious approach doesn't quite work for Supes the same way that it does for Batman, and while the actors did their best with the material they were working with, I'm not sure that material was necessarily the best rout to take with this reboot. Here's my full review.

[number8]

lol, apparently in the UK, there is an after credits scene... [

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from The Lone Ranger

].

[TGM]

Problematic as it is, the movie does get better the more you think about it.

[Wryan]

Thought this was grand. It was resonating with me emotionally from the beginning. Shannon takes a while to warm up but nails it toward the end, despite some iffy line readings. The action is just hilariously, wonderfully outsized. I'm not sure how anyone in that small town survived at all, even after ducking into convenience stores and tiny shops. I loved seeing Krypton. Cavill is fine, seems well suited to it. Antje Traue is a revelation, very fun to watch and cuts a hell of a figure. Action gets a little hectic now and then (I can't imagine being able to stomach it in 3D), but it's great fun to watch nonetheless. The big final Important Moment is done pretty well. Was actually shocked.

[number8]

THE FUCK.

[Mal]

I felt like walking out of this film. By the time the sloppy, ADD action happens, I was already fed up with the awkward flashback editing that never feels genuine. Snyder has no idea how to tell a story and should never make movies again. He wasted SUCH a good cast - Michael Shannon was under utilized and hell, Russell Crowe was easily the best part because he owned Jar-El. I did really love Henry Cavill as Supes - but frankly if Snyder is back on for another sequel he should seek work elsewhere.

[Fezzik]

While the action was quite over the top, I didn't think it was completely out of place. I've actually had discussions with comic-book reading friends where we muse about why Superman's fights don't cause more damage.

So yeah, it was crazy and over the top, but it didn't bother me as much as it bothered others.

I am not a huge fan of Superman films, but I liked this one because I found myself caring about Clark Kent / Kal'El. While Cavill was pretty well cast, I feel a lot of the emotional resonance had more to do with the cast around him - Diane Lane was good as his mother, but both Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe were perfect as his respective fathers.

Shannon was his typical scene-chewing self, which worked for him, and the climactic moment was genuinely shocking.

I'm not usually a fan of Snyder's direction, but I think he acquitted himself quite well here.

[number8]

I hate this movie so much.

Anyone that can make Michael Shannon boring needs to be banished from Hollywood.

I wanted to walk out too, but I just don't do that I guess. Pretty much daydreaming throughout the third act instead. So fucking boring.

[Bosco B Thug]

Liked it. Yes, there's barely any, and I mean any, measured storytelling, but there's lots of resonant, emotionalized spectacle, as Snyder excels at, and the story is smart and good. Thanks, Christopher Nolan.

It's almost completely dour and personality-less, and if you're looking for a superhero film to upend gritty superhero revisionism, prepare yourself instead for self-seriousness not quite as ingenious as a Dark Knight movie, but the film's distillation of Superman values rings with a purified earnestness and results in often sumptuous and thrilling imagery.

[Bosco B Thug]

But yes, Snyder will squeeze out an unexpectedly stilted performance out of a film even if it kills him. Yes, wtf did he do to Michael Shannon, but no one is exactly a charismatic character here.

[megladon8]

I hate this movie so much.

Anyone that can make Michael Shannon boring needs to be banished from Hollywood.

I wanted to walk out too, but I just don't do that I guess. Pretty much daydreaming throughout the third act instead. So fucking boring.

Can you elaborate?

You're honestly the person whose thoughts I am most interested in reading on this, being a fellow Superman fanatic.

Jen and I have tickets to see it tomorrow morning.

[Sven]

I hate this movie so much.

Anyone that can make Michael Shannon boring needs to be banished from Hollywood.

I wanted to walk out too, but I just don't do that I guess. Pretty much daydreaming throughout the third act instead. So fucking boring.

Yeah, my hate is not this extreme, but the major takeaway was the misuse of Shannon. Also, why does Superman have to kill so many people? Suffers big-time from Avengers Bus Syndrome (where you are supposed to randomly care about the welfare of an arbitrary set of people more than that of all the others around who are suffering through horrible and ultimately inconsequential deaths). This one was more egregious.

Still better than Iron Man 3. Brilliant match cut in the beginning of suspended whales to a gull soaring against a breeze.

[B-side]

Re-posted from the Upcoming Film thread:

This is easily superior to the first and third of Nolan's Batman films. Visually, it's leaps and bounds ahead of anything Nolan's accomplished. His presence is felt in the margins, and Goyer's script is mediocre, with some poor dialogue sneaking in to undermine a few nice moments, but overall, Snyder has a better grasp of spatial dynamics, and combined with Spielberg-esque family drama, it makes for grand artistic spectacle. Yes, it's action-heavy, but at least the action is staged well, and not a blur of fists and bodies in mid-shot. The turbulence of Superman's flying is very tangible, and the mass destruction of the metropolis is relegated to background noise as the human and alien characters take center stage. How The Dark Knight Rises and cull enormous praise from all corners and this gets scoffed at is beyond me. The cinematographer here is not exactly known for his impressive signature style, so one might assume Snyder played a large role in the visual dynamics of the film. An over-the-shoulder view of the devastation of Krypton is mighty impressive, and invokes a sense of grandeur and immensity like few films have. It's a gorgeous, semi-mobile shot over the right shoulder of Crowe as Jor-El as he scans his surroundings and absorbs the destruction in front of him. The sun, and various other forms of light, often bloom on screen as Superman is given his immense power by the core of Earth's ecosystem. It's an omnipresent visual motif, together with Malickian nature photography, that attests to the beauty of the natural world that allows Superman to flourish. Zod represents the worst of the military industrial complex, given the sole mission of spreading the seed of his race. Superman is an ideal; the American ideal, and as such is representative of something we can't reasonably achieve, but rather an image of The US fostered by 250 years of democracy and a level of freedom, tolerance and upward mobility that only really exists in our minds, but is nonetheless the dream destination of millions. Superman is US foreign policy in a vacuum; the ability to be truly selfless and supernaturally powerful without any major consequences. He's God made anthropomorphic, but flawed and a magnet for danger. I don't know the history of Superman in the comics, and I haven't seen any Superman films prior to Singer's 2006 film, so my words on Superman as an overall symbol of Americana should be seen in that context.

[Sxottlan]

Not a big Superman fan, but I enjoyed this. About the biggest compliment I can pay it is that I'll probably pick it up on disc when it comes out. Certainly better than Singer's film, but I can't compare them them to Donner's films mainly because I don't remember them. Only saw them a few times when I was a kid.

I enjoyed the extended Krypton sequence. Feels like the most we've ever spent there. I like attempts at very advanced technology and I liked the film's take on Kryptonian tech [

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even if the security drone on the ancient Krypton vessel reminded me unfortunately of the snake creature from Prometheus

].

The editing towards the beginning was a bit weird, but I guess I could see why if they wanted the action to be paced out enough. It was just a little weird to see him doing his thing right away.

However.. [

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I liked how Louis and Superman meet early on and we just get that all out of the way. And how he's clearly not trying to fool her (or anyone else really if they've seen him in costume) when he shows up at the Daily Planet in the final scene. I'd prefer her to play along with him on this one.

]

I also liked:
[

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1. Jonathan Kent's death scene was indeed really well done. Just that simple gesture that keeps Clark rooted to the spot.
2. Jor-El and Louis Lane "meeting" on the Krypton ship and him calmly guiding her around.
3. Really good work by both Russell Crow and Kevin Costner.
4. I liked Louis' characterization.
5. Henry Cavill was also quite good.
6. Definitely not much humor, but that one visual gag was hilarious. Clark indulging in some petty destruction of property? Loved it.
7. Loved Chris Meloni bringing a knife to gun fight.
8. I liked how Superman tried to rescue people when he could, but otherwise he had his hands full with Zod's people. If there's any one thing I hated about the last movie, was that montage of Clark oblivious to the condescension that comes with flying in, blowing out a fire and rescuing a person when there were firefighters there already doing the damn job.
9. No kryptonite. Perhaps just an air/pressure mixture thing? Or some kind of bacteria in Kryptonian atmosphere?
10. Caught the word "Lexcorp" on the side of a truck. Otherwise not too many Easter eggs that I saw.

]

Did not care for:
[

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1. So the destruction of Krypton somehow just reawakens Zod and his people?
2. Here's an 18,000-year old Krypton ship. That just so happened to have a simple and incongruously colorful Kryptonian outfit that also had the El family symbol on it. Biggest contrivance of the film. Sloppy.
3. As much as I liked Louis' character and Amy Adams, Louis still didn't have much to do (and be rescued two times too many). The reason why she was allowed to be at a top secret military investigation did not make sense.
4. Still don't really get how he can be a bridge between Krypton and Earth. And the bit with the Codex and genetic material of his species somehow imprinted on his cells doesn't make sense. How exactly is that supposed to help? Cloning? How will he access it?
5. Product placement much? Superman fighting an alien in the dining room of an IHOP? Bizarro!
6. Zod and his people just couldn't terraform one of those lost colonies again? Why not Mars?

]

The amount of destruction was kind of startling. On par with The Avengers if not bigger.

[number8]

Can you elaborate?

You're honestly the person whose thoughts I am most interested in reading on this, being a fellow Superman fanatic.

Jen and I have tickets to see it tomorrow morning.

Where to begin? For a movie about the most selfless hero there is, it is incredibly self-centered. Literally everything in the movie revolves around Clark, to the point where they made him the archetypal Chosen One, the Prodigal Son, the catalyst, the call to action, the Deus Ex Machina, and the MacGuffin [

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(the doomsday device they're looking for the entire movie IS HIM ALL ALONG!!!)

] all at once. It's so ridiculous—I half expected Zod to suddenly rip his face off and reveal that he's also Kal-El because it's all about Kal-El. I can't think of another superhero movie where things would have turned out so much better for everyone if the superhero didn't exist. Millions of people would still be alive if Jor-El didn't decide to be a selfish dick.

The first two thirds of the movie is all the worst parts about Goyer's writing in Batman Begins made insufferable. At least the constant hammering of "fear" as a theme in BB is spread out to other characters to play off of Bruce Wayne's own fear. Here it's just ad naseum about why Kal-El is so precious and special to everyone for two hours. I love Superman, he's the best, but sheesh. His character arc is nonsensical. I think he went from "ugh, everybody hates me and thinks I'm a freak, I can't trust these earthlings" to "hi Lois golly gee I'm gonna surrender myself for these people that I love look at my winning smile" in the span of two scenes, only for the ending to leave him moody and dark again. I'm honestly at a loss as to what Clark supposedly learned from all this. Certainly nothing from his two terrible dads. Jonathan Kent wants him to let people die and Jor-El wants him to be a God. I think This is the End actually had the better morality.

And then that third act. The action is as dull as the color palette. The entire second act building up to a borrowed Wrath of Khan plot point is waved away with Superman constipating for five minutes, to make way for two CGI blurs trading punches in front of 7-11, Sears, IHOP, and whatever other brands contributed to the movie's record-breaking $170 million product placement deal. Matrix Revolutions did it better.

I'm officially drafting my apology letter to Bryan Singer.

[number8]

Man I type fast when I'm angry about something and has not slept.

[Sven]

Jonathan Kent wants him to let people die and Jor-El wants him to be a God.

I wish Jonathan's influence was more idealogical, because I can buy a push/pull between conflicting ethics to develop a new identity, a truth in compromise. But unfortunately, it seems the whole point of Kent is to act as a stop valve. Rather than his death demonstrate courage and humanity's "best" (what they were talking about in the car right before the tornado), all it ended up meaning was that he didn't want to people to see that his son could run really fast (when by that point, kid was pretty much a local legend).

[megladon8]

Theatre is packed. Final preview played. Power went out.

FML

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Man of Steel is a giant ball of hack Christian iconography and a masterpiece of the new model of blockbuster in which characters exist not as characters but as mouthpieces for their respective personal ideologies, solely talking in exposition and repeatedly stating what their about. Why? because at the end of the day Hollywood can only make money with these vehicles in the international market and these characters are black-and-white and static in their build and have no grey areas for fear that the intended audience might not understand. Plus this film supposedly set the record for corporate product placement and it definitely doesn't go unnoticed. Also despite the massive destruction, there is no on-screen body count because it would draw a higher restrictive rating that would lessen the ticket sales. Alien on Alien violence is ok though. Aliens. Fuck 'em.

Here is a summary of the last third of the film:

Zod: I'm a Kryptonian and I fully abide by the race of Kryptonians which is why I do what I do.

Superman: ...but Zod I am part Earth and I believe in these people.

(fight scene)

(repeat)

END FILM

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Still better than Iron Man 3.

No way. Iron Man 3, as shitty as it was, had some excellent ideas that remained lost in how convoluted the film was and at least humanized the main villain in a way that was intriguing. Man of Steel was just black-and-white idiocy with better CGI.

[Derek]

Snyder has a better grasp of spatial dynamics, and combined with Spielberg-esque family drama, it makes for grand artistic spectacle. Yes, it's action-heavy, but at least the action is staged well, and not a blur of fists and bodies in mid-shot.

This is just pure bullshit. Snyder has barely any grasp on spatial dynamics and aside from a few nice shots, there is nothing that distinguishes its "grand artistic spectacle" from any other big-budget Hollywood action film. The action most definitely is a blur and its constant smashing into buildings is most reminiscent of the Transformers films and The Avengers, except at least the latter had the impressive long shot through the city with beautifully choreographed action that actually incorporates the character's relationships while serving as a welcome break from the more indistinguishable blur-heavy action.

and the mass destruction of the metropolis is relegated to background noise as the human and alien characters take center stage.

What characters? There's no development whatsoever of the Superman/Zod or Superman/Lois relationships. They're about as superficial as possible and with so little attempt to complicate any of the major relationships, how exactly do they not take a backseat to the action which entirely dominates the film's second half. At least the opening 30 minutes or so attempted to introduce some fairly interesting sci-fi concepts that could have made for compellingly different Superman universe. But instead it turns into Independence Day meets Transformers with about as much depth and subtlety as either of those films.

The sun, and various other forms of light, often bloom on screen as Superman is given his immense power by the core of Earth's ecosystem. It's an omnipresent visual motif, together with Malickian nature photography, that attests to the beauty of the natural world that allows Superman to flourish.

It's a standard big budget sci-fi visual template these days thanks to JJ Abrams. There's nothing meaningful in the motif (and please god, do not compare the cinematography in this to Malick) because the meaning of the Sun and its importance to Superman is never even mentioned in this film. It's a way to inject soft-lit sentimental shots into action films that's been done for years now, so let's not act like Snyder is creating a new visual standard in the Hollywood blockbuster. This is about as visually generic as these films get. I don't necessarily blame Snyder for that and I do think the guy has some talent and I like his Dawn of the Dead and Watchmen, so I have no major bones to pick with him, just your circles and squares insistence on pegging him as an auteur here when the final product so clearly comes out as a work-for-hire project.

EDIT: Also superlame were Snyders constant quick-zooms. I appreciate that he didn't rely on slo-mo this time, but did he have to replace it with a hacky tick that's nearly as annoying?

[Derek]

And then that third act. The action is as dull as the color palette. The entire second act building up to a borrowed Wrath of Khan plot point is waved away with Superman constipating for five minutes, to make way for two CGI blurs trading punches in front of 7-11, Sears, IHOP, and whatever other brands contributed to the movie's record-breaking $170 million product placement deal. Matrix Revolutions did it better.

I'm officially drafting my apology letter to Bryan Singer.

Heh, this film really does make you appreciate Singer's vision a bit more. I still think they should have added a post-credit sequence with Clark and his mom eating pancakes at IHOP. I would've been much more forgiving of the film's blandness had it at least been a bit self-deprecating about its shameless plugging.

[Sven]

At least the opening 30 minutes or so attempted to introduce some fairly interesting sci-fi concepts that could have made for compellingly different Superman universe.

Krypton dragons.

Crowe does throw one line out there about the Sun giving him his power, but it is only visually reiterated.